Opaque, warm black body beneath a dense and tall mocha-cream colored head.Prominent, fresh, citrus hops stick in the nose like pine sap, with a backing of faint syrupy sweetness like the sugar smell you get while making cotton candy.This beer fills the mouth entirely. Up front it's bitter and citrus, and that bitterness lasts and lasts. As the temperature rises, the hops get more piney, a roasted chocolate sweetness comes through, and an alcohol warmth starts to appear.It's a great looking and great tasting beer, and I really enjoyed the dichotomy between the black body and strong hop character. (605 characters)

Consumed on 6/28 from a growler into a pint glass.A: Pours out black and fairly thick looking. Good size head emerges from initial pour. Head texture is creamy and ivory brown in color. Head is pretty sticky but not much lacing is left on the glass as the brew is consumed. The head stays around for awhile and finally settles to a thin layer.

S: Mostly pine but some floral/grassy notes are there as well. Roasty notes very very faint (maybe be my mind playing a trick). Orange zest is also present in the smell.

T: Pretty much the same as the smell. Big pine taste upfront followed by a slight bitter finish. Grassy notes linger in the aftertaste. Alcohol isn't present when brew is cooler but as it warms up alcohol is more present.

M: Great mouthfeel, creamy but not thick. Good amount of carbonation but it doesn't take away from anything. No harsh alcohol taste when cold but as it warms, slight alcohol taste can be detected but by no means is it harsh.

D: This is a damn drinkable beer. The growler was gone all too quick, glad they bottle this. I really enjoy this beer, goes down smooth and overall just an amazing beer. If you loved the Stone XI fresh, you'll love this beer. (1,191 characters)

Picked up a bottle from Johnathan Rons in Brielle NJ. Word is the beer was just released in Nj only a week or 2 ago.A: Dark Brown almost looks like cola. A thick tannish bubbly head.S: Smells like Simcoe hops. Very much like pine needles.T: First taste is of pine. The Simcoe hops are the strongest flavor in this beer. Very slight malt flavor.M: Medium body with medium carbonationD: Very good beer but also very rich and hoppy. Dont know if I would be able to drink more than a bomber in a sitting.

Edit: I ate a peanut butter cookie and then drank another glass. Once the peanut butter cleaned my palate alot more of the fruity side of Simcoe came through. Very solid beer that goes well with christmas cookies. (720 characters)

This is just about anything I could want a beer to be. Smooth and dark with a rich creamy head. Just the right balance of hops and malt to balance the ABV. Dangerous beer. Don't skip it if you get a chance. (206 characters)

I've had this beer many many times. I'm finally getting around to rate it. It took me off guard the first time I tried it. Nice and hoppy. A: Dark brown with light head went down fast. Lightly carbonated. Dark ruby light flowing through on the bottom.T: Hoppy, sweet, bitter, and subtle floral hit the nose.D: Easy to drink.O: Overall it is a nice dark hop that is always good to just chill to. (398 characters)

Pours a watery-black color with a hint of caramel color. Smell is typical Stone hops with sweet-tangy citrus. The taste is bitter hops upfront with a vast array of floral. Blended flowers is the best way to describe it, but it totally works. Another great beer by a great brewery. Go out and get this. (345 characters)

A: Poured from a 1 pint 6 oz brown bottle with painted-on label into a standard pint glass. Pours a dark brown (black??) color that is nearly impervious to light. A one-finger light brown head tops this brew and shows good retention and great lacing.

S: Grapefruit and big time for me. Also some piney notes and a hint of dark malt in the background.

T: This beer tastes great. Strong hop presence obviously. Grapefruit and pine notes predominate. Alcohol quite noticeable both in the middle and at the finish. Also, as would be expected the bitterness hits hard at the finish.

M: Quite highly carbonated with a medium body....quite nice.

D: This beer is excellent...but at 8.7% abv, one must be wise. I sipped on my bomber for about 90 minutes, which gave me a good chance to note its varying nuances with temperature change. I would drink this beer anywhere, anytime, but not more than a pint or two. (906 characters)

A - Two-finger head is tan and very creamy, retains throughout the drink and leaves a great webwork of lacing.

S - Toasty malts, slight brown sugar sweetness, and a whopping helping of hops. Anyone who's had some of the other strong Stone brews knows the distinctive, juniper berry-esque hop smell that characterizes these beers. There is remarkably little alcohol to be detected.

T - Toasted earthy malts, some dark chocolate bitterness, molasses. Also a big hop presence which is citrusy and crisp, though less bitter than other Stone brews. These hops are more subdued and serve to mask the alcohol, though it's still there if you look for it. Finish has a mild hop bitterness, with a slightly sweet and sour undertone as the body fades away.

D - A great sipper for the strong beer drinker who's not afraid of some hops, this is a great addition on the mellower side of the Stone lineup. It's pretty well-balanced and not overbearingly heavy, but you'd be wise to take her slow. (1,067 characters)

I had no idea that this would be essentially black given the dark brown bottle. Giant head. I had to pour it slowly with multiple pauses to allow the head to settle. Thick sticky lacing clung to the glass.

The taste was a full spectrum from roasted malts, coffee, to spicy hops. Very unique. This is not typical of my preferred brews, but I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless. I probably went through about five 22 ounce bottles until I could find no more. (499 characters)

smell is wonderfull. such a great blend of chocolate, piney hops and malts. not one single thing over powers one another. picture perfect balance.

the taste is a resemblence to arrogant bastard but with a few tweeks to it. aggressive piney hops with just the near perfect amount of chocolaty malts which leades to a plesent dry bitter aftertaste.

full bodied soft chewy mouthfeel.

this is quite possibly one of the best fresh and well balanced brews from stone i've ever had. such a better blend than last years 10th anniversery(which was also a great brew too, don't get me wrong). i'll be getting as much fresh bottles of this as possible. (808 characters)

a - poured a three-fingers thick creamy and dense coffee-colored head into a snifter that left thick sheeting and lace with nice coating on the sides of the glass. the body was dark black and impossible to see through.s - pine, muted citrus tones, with a light chocolate malt underneath that really comes through as it warms.t - dry and citrusy hops at the beginning with a sweet coffee and chocolatey finish. with each sip you get the hops on the front of the tongue and a roasted malty taste on the back.m - creamy and smooth.d - considering stone's big hop presence this just begs to be quaffed. easily drinkable and really goes down smooth. (648 characters)

Pours black, as the style would suggest. Tan head retains extremely well.

Hops overwhelm the bouquet. Smells piney, woodsy, almost like a natural fir.

Extreme flavor - hops, hops, hops, alcohol, hops. Really, there's nothing more to it, which is why I wouldn't classify this beer as extraordinary. I can see already a few sips in, how this could get redundant almost. It's like biting copper.

As the heaviness will eventually settle in, the acids kind of wear the palate out. It's extremely flavorful, it blasts the tastebuds, so again, I marked it kind of low in this respect. It offers nothing but the same flavor over and over, there's almost no complexity in my opinion.

High in alcohol and volume, I wouldn't expect more than one would not suffice, unless you're a hophead and you'd like to get tanked. Not my cup o' tea. (833 characters)

Poured from a 750 mL bottle into a large goblet. Pours nearly black with a decent amount of an off-white head that leaves some good lacing on the glass.

At first smell you get a nice sweet and roasted malt aroma before being taken over by piney hop aromas of the northwest US.

It's definitely got a strong hoppy taste, but the malts do make a nice appearance. You get a nice sweet molasses, chocolate and toffee taste at first that gives way to roasted bitterness and finally gives way to a beautiful piney and citrus hoppiness.

It's got nice carbonation and mouthfeel and has good drinkability. (598 characters)

Served in a tulip glass at Binny's South Loop store in Chicago. Great bartender (Jim) talked about this and similar beers as a nice prelude.

Appearance - Pretty damn intense, and that generally characterize the beer and the brewer for the most part. This looked black, in the glass, coal with a lacing tan head. Catch light through the edge of a tilted glass, and you get a very dark garnet ray, provided the room has enough light.

Smell - The hops come out in full on the nose, generally a sappy pine, I smell just a touch of citrus. Both dark fruit and roasted flavors are an undertone here, as well as alcohol.

Taste - The pine hops are there on the front, and in the mid-palate I get flavors of anise and fennel (I was reminded of the fennel flavors in el camino (un)real). This isn't without some rich notes like chocolate. It has very good complexity, but the finish was fairly chemical.

Mouthfeel - sits somewhat heavily, but the carbonation (perhaps accentuated by bitter flavors) is sharp, and rather clean.

Drinkability - It drinks like an american strong dark ale, I was happy with one. (1,103 characters)

Pours a beautiful balck/ dark mahogany with a nice, frothy espresso creme head. Lacing is consistent and substantial. Nice floral, pine smell tells you you're in for a hop treat. It doesn't disappoint. First taste denotes citrus and molasses. The alcohol is foreward initially, which I don't mind. It mellows in subsequent tastes to a nice, warming presence. The mouthfeel is creamy, more so than I expected. The hop presence wins by a nose over that malt sweetness, which is never cloying. Just an all around flavorful, drinkable beer and a real treat for the beer senses. (573 characters)

A: Thick, dark, brown, almost black. Light tan head that leaves good lacing.S: Surprisingly hoppy/piney; malt and toffee come through a little as it warms up.T: Piney hops to begin then balanced out somewhat by sweeter malts and earthy tones; light chocolatey note in the finish. Some alcohol warmth, but not noticeable in the taste. Hop note left to coat tongue. M: Medium to full body, slightly viscous, but not like a thick stout. Medium to high carbonation. Smooth drinker with a bit of a bite.O: One of a handful of Black Ales that I've tried; very good. Seamless merging of hops, malt, and sweeter chocolate and caramel tones. A must try. (680 characters)

Even layer of oily hop bitterness from the first drop on the tongue. The hop presence is IPA status which caught me off guard. Chocolate notes are present, but right now are hard to find since the hops are kicking my palate around. Light alcohol presence aids the bitterness; mouthfeel is solid.

I like this beer (not the price) and thoroughly enjoyed it, but it is overly hopped for my taste buds. I love hops, but I can't call myself a hop head; I was hoping for more malty flavors in this. IPA lovers: GO CRAZY!

Gotta love the commentary on the back of the bottle, especially the third paragraph! (729 characters)

Wow! Definitely one to try. I wasn't sure what to expect as its only listed as Stone XI and mentions a dark IPA on the back. Pours a brownish-black color with ruby accents around the perimeter. The head is a little too over abundant and hangs around in thick 1-2" clumps after finishing a pint. As it warms the head only multiplies in following pours, leaving long yearning minutes of undrinkable beer due to a mountain of foam. Smell is intoxicating! A porter?, an IPA?, BOTH! Smells of toasted oats and grain while balanced by a hoppy aroma, slight citrus note, porter and some barley wine qualities. This is among Stone's better brews as it is an ensemble to the sense. Let this beer sit from the fridge for awhile and it's definitely a treat. (748 characters)

From a 22oz. bomber, this unique black IPA was a bitter bomb from start to finish. The cooked roasted profile hits you on the nose, with chocolate malts and broasted grains. With good head and a nice quaff, an IPA porter hybrid comes to mind. The flavors tilt to the bitter side of IPA-land, with roasted dark nuts and barleycorn leading the pack. Overall a good, distinctive IPA, but a little bitter for my bulls-eye. (418 characters)